


Shifting Tides

by Julesmonster



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Animal Transformation, Desert Island Fic, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 13:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18470101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julesmonster/pseuds/Julesmonster
Summary: Tony and Gibbs are flying back from Hawaii when their plane goes down. They are stranded on a deserted island. It is only once they are there that Tony tells Gibbs a secret that he’s kept hidden for years. And that secret saves them and changes everything between them.





	1. The Island

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Shifting](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3781645) by [Julesmonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julesmonster/pseuds/Julesmonster). 



> This story is loosely related to my QaF fic titled “Shifting”. You do not have to read that fic to understand or enjoy this story. But, if you enjoy this, you would probably enjoy that story as well.
> 
> Again, this a story that has been sitting on my hard drive for a very long time, just waiting for me to get around to polishing it up and posting it. I really hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> Jules

Leroy Jethro Gibbs fought through the fog that seemed to have enveloped his mind and attempted to figure out where he was and how he got there. Without opening his eyes, he knew that he was someplace unfamiliar. It smelled of the ocean and he could hear the surf not far away. He knew that he was lying on a bed, but it smelled musty and unused. He couldn't hear anyone around him. Carefully, he opened his eyes and squinted as the light coming through the windows made his already aching head throb. He closed his eyes again for a moment before opening them again and taking in his surroundings. He was in a bedroom, on a queen sized bed. The room was dingy, and looked like it hadn't been inhabited in decades. The louvre windows still had the glass panes in place and he could see that someone had recently opened the hurricane shutters outside the window. There was dust covering every flat surface, and some of the furniture in the room was still covered in dust cloths. The door to the room was wide open, so Gibbs had to conclude that whoever had brought him there, he wasn't being held captive.

Gibbs considered getting up to explore, but a wave of dizziness when he attempted to sit up nixed that idea. However he had gotten there, wherever there was, his gut was telling him he was safe for the time being. So he lay back and tried to get some idea what was going on.

The last thing he could remember clearly was hitching a ride on a military supply plane with Tony. They had been called to the Pearl Harbor NCIS offices to help with a case that was connected to a human trafficking ring they had brought down the year prior. Tony had been thrilled with the chance to spend a few days on the same island where Magnum PI had been filmed. Gibbs had indulged him and didn't schedule their return for a full day after they were finished with the op, giving Tony time to drag him around doing the tourist thing. 

They had caught their ride late at night, and Tony had bitched about the fact that they had to ride among crates of supplies, even more uncomfortable than the normal troop transports they used, but it had been the best Gibbs could do to give Tony time to sightsee. Besides, Tony's grumbling was only halfhearted. He was still too excited by all they had seen to be too unhappy about anything. 

That was the last clear memory, but Gibbs began to piece together enough flashes of memory to get a basic picture of what had happened. At some point, the turbulence got really bad and the pilot had sent back the co-pilot to tell them to strap in and that they were going to try and get around a storm that was worse than predicted. He remembered Tony mentioning a movie where the hero was in a plane crash and stranded on an island for years. Then there was a flash of lightning and a jolt of pain and Gibbs was pretty sure that something in the cargo hold hadn't been secured properly and had hit him in the head, resulting in his current headache. 

After that, there was only one other flash of memory, but Gibbs wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't dreamed it, because he remembered being under water and being tugged out of the crashed plane by a dolphin with eyes that looked just like Tony's hazel eyes.

"Hey Boss," Tony said as he entered the room, looking as rough as Gibbs felt. "How's your head?"

"I'll live," Gibbs grunted. 

Tony sat down beside his boss and sighed. "So, do you want the good news or the bad news?"

"I remember the crash, kind of," Gibbs told him.

Tony nodded. "We went down pretty hard. The crew died on impact. But the pilot was able to get us pretty close to this island, and I was able to get us out of the plane. I found this house and it's pretty dirty, but seems like its not going to fall on our heads. The plane is close enough to shore that we should be able to get to it pretty easily at low tide and see what we can salvage from the supplies."

"Anything else I should know?" Gibbs asked.

Tony hesitated. "The island was inhabited at some point, hence this house. The good news is that the water still runs. Must be an artesian well somewhere. The bad news is that there is no electricity, though there had to be at some point because there are lights and appliances. There's also some sort of lab not far from here, but it's deserted too. I've seen evidence of wild pigs and chickens, and there's plenty of fruit and coconut trees around, so we'll have food. But there's no way we can salvage the radio from the plane, and I'm pretty sure that the black box isn't emitting a signal."

Gibbs gave Tony a searching look. "How can you be sure?"

Tony looked away and Gibbs could tell that he was debating something before he finally steeled himself. "Boss, Jethro, there's something that I've never told you. Mostly because I didn't think you would believe me, but also because I've been told since I was old enough to know that I was different that I should never tell anyone."

"Just spit it out," Gibbs snapped. His head hurt too much to dance around the truth, good or bad.

Tony opened and closed his mouth a couple times before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Right. So, have you ever heard of a shifter?"

"Like in movies?" Gibbs asked with a frown. "Werewolves and shit?"

"Sort of like that," Tony agreed. "But werewolves aren't real. Shifters are. I can become any animal I want. We aren't ruled by the moon, aren't monsters, and there are a few other significant differences. But the important thing here is the fact that my senses are quite a bit better than a normal person, especially when I'm shifted."

"So I didn't dream the dolphin with your eyes," Gibbs mused.

"No dream," Tony confirmed, not too surprised that Gibbs had picked up on the connection so fast. "But dolphins have really great sonar and I should have heard the black box pinging, but there was nothing."

Gibbs nodded and finally got up the energy to sit up. "How long have I been out?"

"Just a couple hours," Tony informed him. "Long enough for me to get a quick look around. Not long enough for me to get too worried. It's still early afternoon, and low tide should be in a couple hours, so I was planning to head back to the beach soon. I grabbed some mangos and a pineapple. I figured we could eat first."

Gibbs nodded and slowly got to his feet. Tony was right by his side while he got his bearings, but it didn't take long. The dizziness was passing and he was pretty sure that he'd be good to help by the time they finished lunch.

&&&

When they reached the beach where the plane had landed an hour later, Gibbs could see for himself why Tony didn't think they'd be able to salvage any of the radio equipment. The nose of the plane had hit hard and crumpled. It was a mass of twisted metal and debris. But the body of the plane was mainly intact, aside from a couple gaping holes in the fuselage and the wing that was completely missing. The holes made salvaging supplies easier, even with water up to their knees inside, so he wasn't complaining. He might have been too stubborn to let Tony go alone, but he was alright staying in the plane and handing stuff out for Tony to take to the beach. 

It was a long and exhausting endeavor, but by the time the sun began to set over the western peak of the island, they had gotten everything out of the plane and were sorting what they wanted to carry back to the house with them. They could only make a couple trips before it got dark, so they concentrated on the essentials, including their go bags which had their clothes, a couple crates of MREs, a couple battery operated lanterns, a crate of medical supplies and a rifle and ammo taken out of their respective crates. The good news was there was enough ammo that hadn't been soaked to keep them protected and eating wild game for years. The bad news was that their clothes would have to be washed and dried before they would be wearable and there was a distinct lack of a laundromat. 

By the time they made it back to the house, which was settled on a bluff that overlooked another beach on the other side of a rocky outcropping, Gibbs was totally exhausted. He wanted to help Tony get things settled, but he was shaking and cold. So he didn't fight when Tony directed him to sit on the sofa while Tony lit a fire in the small potbellied stove. 

He dozed lightly while listening to Tony puttering about, getting their clothes sorted and finding some sort of soap to wash them in the sink, then hanging them to dry on a line he strung up using some cord he found among the supply crates. He let the sounds fade as he drifted into sleep, knowing that Tony was on his six.

&&&

Tony was reluctant to wake Gibbs, but he had heated up some MREs and he knew the man needed to eat before going to bed for the night. He gently shook the older man's shoulder and Gibbs' eyes opened immediately. "Dinner's ready. Not much to write home about, but there is coffee."

"Coffee?" Gibbs grunted, not fully awake.

"Found a few cases among the crates and brought back a can," Tony shrugged as he led the way over to the table and pointed for Gibbs to sit while he set out their plates and poured the coffee from the coffee press that he'd found in a cupboard. "Found a coffee press in the kitchen. Not sure why this place was abandoned, but they left behind a lot of useful stuff. I found pots and pans and dishes. None of it is as nice as the stuff in my kitchen back home, but it will do. Found a huge tub of laundry detergent under the sink, so I washed our clothes. And there's another tub of dish detergent. Oh, and there's books and empty notebooks in the office. It's like when they cleared out, they only took their personal items and left everything else."

Gibbs chewed his bland MRE spaghetti and nodded. "No air strip. Had to ship everything in and out by boat. Probably not much room for things that could easily be replaced or weren't essential."

"Guess that makes sense," Tony agreed. "Means we'll have something to read. Also means we might find some useful stuff in the other building."

"We can check it out tomorrow," Gibbs agreed. 

"And we'll need to get the rest of the stuff from the beach," Tony said. "There's a storage room off the back where we can store everything we think is useful. And we should set up some sort of SOS sign that would be visible to search planes."

"Sounds like we have a plan," Gibbs smirked.

Tony grinned back. "I'm just glad we didn't have to figure out how to make fire from nothing, or build our own shelter like Tom Hanks did in Castaway. We're really lucky that we have as many resources as we do."

"And we're not alone," Gibbs said. "Tell me more about this shifter stuff."

Tony finished his last bite of spaghetti and wiped his face before sitting back in his chair and looking at Gibbs. "I'm not a freak, or anything. There are plenty of others like me. I think it's like one in five hundred people, and it’s passed down through families. They usually hang out in packs. The werewolf legends are actually based on wolf shifters."

"Thought you said that you can change into anything?" Gibbs asked as he poured the last of the coffee into his mug.

"I can," Tony said. "I'm what's called an Omni shifter. There are also wolves, lions, lynx, jaguars, foxes, bears, I even met a hyena shifter in Africa when we were there to get Ziva back. Most shifters stick with their own kind, and Omnis are sometimes distrusted because we can become anything we feel an affinity to. That being said, there are limits. Perfecting a shape takes time and practice and a lot of power, so there are limits to how many shapes an Omni can take."

"Average?" Gibbs prodded.

"Two or three," Tony said. "Three is fairly common. Four is considered very impressive. The most revered of our kind have either five or six."

"And you?" Gibbs asked.

"Five so far," Tony admitted. "After Dad disowned me and the pack ostracized me, I had plenty of time on my own to work on my forms. I had three before I left for college. I've gained two since then, and I've been working on a sixth for the last three years."

"Dolphin is one," Gibbs prompted.

"My first form is a jaguar," Tony said. "Most omnis have one of the major shifter lines as their first form. After that, I attained a tabby cat, the dolphin was next."

"Only mammals?" Gibbs wondered.

"Mammals are easier since humans are mammals," Tony said. "But I got the idea that I wanted to fly when I was laid up with the busted leg in college, so my fourth form is a hawk. In Philly, I dated a shifter woman who had a little girl who loved bunnies, so my fifth form is a rabbit. Turned out the girl liked me more than her mom did, so the relationship didn't last long."

"And the one you've been working on?" Gibbs asked.

"A tortoise," Tony said. "I've always liked them, but reptiles are really tough, because of the whole cold-blooded thing. You know, boss, I can't believe how well you're taking all of this."

Gibbs shrugged. "Might be the head wound. Might be that I've always trusted you and this doesn't change that."

Tony blinked back tears that he hadn't expected and cleared his throat. "I should clean up."

"Can help," Gibbs offered. 

And so they set about clearing the table and washing the dishes in the water still in the dish pan from earlier. As Tony explained, there was no sense in wasting either the water or the soap, since they didn't know how long they would be stuck, or how long the supply of either would last.

Once dinner was cleaned up, neither man had enough energy left to consider reading that night, so they took turns in the bathroom washing up. When Tony was finished, he went to the closet in the hall to grab the blankets he'd seen earlier, but Gibbs called out.

"What are you doing, DiNozzo?"

"Um, getting a blanket and pillow so I can sleep on the sofa," Tony explained. "Only one bed."

"Get your ass in here," Gibbs said. "Not the first time we've shared."

It wasn't the first time, and not just in work situations where they were forced by circumstances to share. There had been a few dozen times over the years when they had found comfort and release in each other's arms. It was something they never talked about, before or after those rare occasions, but it was more than just a friends-with-benefits thing. It was something that Tony didn't want to define for fear that it would ruin the amazing friendship and working relationship they had.

"You sure, Jethro?" Tony asked quietly.

"Yeah," Gibbs said. "Not that either of us are up for more than sleep tonight, but no reason not to take comfort from each other. Besides, no stove in here to keep warm."

"Alright," Tony agreed and climbed into the other side of the bed. Gibbs turned the lantern off and settled in. Just as Tony was trying to get comfortable himself, he felt Gibbs pull him into his arms and, yeah, it was nice to be held. With so many uncertainties at that moment, there was one thing Tony knew he could count on. And with that thought, he finally rested.

&&&

The lab turned out to be an old weather watching station. There were no computers, radios or phones left, but they did find several wind turbines and a bank of batteries that had once provided the power to both the house and the lab. Gibbs thought that with a little work to replace some of the faulty wires, he could get the power back to the house, which meant the refrigerator would work, as well as the electric stove, the baseboard heaters and the water heater. There were back up generators, which ran on gasoline, but the fuel was long gone, so they would have to depend on the wind alone and conserve power as much as possible. 

In the storage room of the weather station, they found more supplies, like fifty gallon barrels of laundry and dish detergents, airtight barrels of salt, sugar, and flour, more cases of coffee, chicken feed, and enough toilet paper, light bulbs, and cleaning supplies to last them decades. They added some of the supplies from the plane that they wouldn't need on a daily basis, like the crates of ammo and weapons, the extra medical supplies and basic medicines, eight of the ten cases of MREs, and boots and uniforms that wouldn't fit either of them. 

The other supplies went to the storage room at the back of the house. In there, they found a surf board, fishing gear, and gardening tools. That led to a search for a garden. They eventually found the overgrown garden near the path between the station and the house. Tony and Gibbs thought that with a little care, they should be able to get it back to thriving before too long. As it was, they found tomatoes, peppers, onions, a couple varieties of gourds, some sort of lettuce, yams and potatoes still thriving among the many weeds that were trying to choke them out. They also found a pineapple grove, a banana grove, several macadamia trees, a lemon tree, two orange trees and a lime tree. Along with the other fruit trees Tony had found there truly was more than enough food to keep them healthy and alive.

At the station, they found a map of the island. If it was accurate, there was a storm bunker built into a cave further up the mountain that should survive the worst typhoon (assuming it was bad enough to destroy a house made from reinforced cinderblocks). And there had once been a dock built in a small cove not far from the station, but other than a few cement pylons it was long gone. There was nothing else on the island. 

It took them four days to get everything sorted and the electricity back on. It took them another week to get the garden back to recognizable. After that, their days began to fall into a pattern. Hunting, gathering, and preparing food took up a lot of their time, but not all of it. 

Gibbs didn't have his more refined tools, but there were a few tools at the station and the house that he could use to begin building a boat. However, with the limited tools at hand, and the fact that Gibbs had to learn to strip, cure and then cut the wood with only a hand saw, building a boat could take years. And when it was finished, they had to prepare for the fact that they had no map, no navigational tools beyond a simple compass and no idea where the plane had actually ended up since the pilot had taken them off course to avoid the storm. So neither man was desperate enough to try their luck with the open ocean yet. But Gibbs prepared for the day by rebuilding the dock and working on a boat.

Tony found where the chickens were nesting and began making rounds each morning to collect eggs. He also began feeding them each morning and he found an old coop that he fixed up until some of the feral birds began to nest there, making feeding them and collecting eggs much easier. 

When he wasn't hunting for food, he was usually the one cooking it. Gibbs did okay with eggs and chopping fruits or vegetables, and he was better with butchering their meat, but Tony knew how to bake flat bread, hand-roll pasta (though he wished for his precious semolina every time he did), how to take the food at hand and make different meals every day so that they wouldn't get sick of eating the same thing all the time. He even was able to make a fairly decent pizza, though the crust was flat without yeast.

Tony did have some spare time and he used that time to dry out the pig hides because leather would be useful at some point. He also took the surfboard out and taught Gibbs how to surf, though Tony was far from being a pro himself. 

Both men spent time reading each night, and both men began keeping a journal of their experiences on the island. It wasn't easy, but their first month passed without any major problems.

&&&

The first time Gibbs saw Tony in one of his shifted forms (other than while he was delirious with a head injury), was a week after they were stranded. They were sick of MRE's, had plenty of fruits and veggies, but no meat. So Gibbs went hunting. Tony was a fair shot with a pistol, but making such a tricky shot with the assault rifles they had was a bit much for him without a lot more practice. But Gibbs was sure he could do it. And he could have, if the animals weren't so damned good at avoiding the two humans on the island.

So after a full day of patiently waiting and watching, Gibbs returned to the house with nothing to show for his efforts. 

Tony was surprised, since he could hear and smell the pigs and chickens not far away. So he offered to help the next day. 

Gibbs wasn't sure what he expected, but seeing Tony shift into a large jungle cat was breathtakingly beautiful. He had always thought Tony moved with a cat-like grace, but to see him in large cat form really drove the point home. And he wasn't just a jaguar. He was a black jaguar. 

Gibbs wasn't afraid at all. If he hadn't seen Tony transform with his own eyes, he still wouldn't have been afraid. He could feel Tony still there, and see his eyes in the almost glowing eyes of the cat. 

Tony gave off a rumble that Gibbs thought might just be a purr before rubbing up along Gibbs' leg and then strode out the door and into the jungle.

Fifteen minutes later, just as Gibbs was really settling into the agreed upon location, a flock of feral chickens flew into the clearing squawking as they landed and took off again with their limited wings. Gibbs got two before they could get away. And then he saw Tony slink into the clearing with a smug look on his feline face. He sniffed the dead chickens and then sat to wait for Gibbs to join him.

Since then, they had used the same technique to hunt for pigs and nenes (wild Hawaiian duck-like birds). They sometimes fished in the cove from the rebuilt dock, but Tony didn't have the patience to sit with a rod and reel for long and usually ended up in the water as a dolphin, which then scared any fish away. Gibbs was considering making a net, so that Tony could scare the fish into the net instead of away from the hook.

Tony had used his hawk form to scout the island (which is how he had found the house and the station in the first place Gibbs later learned) and to see how visible their SOS was from the air. He had also curled up with Jethro on more than one evening as either a bunny or a tabby cat. The only form Gibbs hadn't seen was the wolf and the turtle. And he had to admit that he liked Tony in any form he took. He still had that same irrepressible sense of humor and thirst for adventure. He was the only person Gibbs could imagine surviving alone with on an island. The fact that they were already having sex with each other was a major bonus.

&&&

The first real sign that something was wrong was the fact that all the birds that inhabited the island grew silent. Tony caught on before Gibbs, but the older man wasn't far behind.

"Must be a storm heading this way," Gibbs said.

"Should we stay here, or head for the shelter?" Tony wondered.

"We've had a few storms roll through," Gibbs said. "You ever heard the birds go this quiet before?"

Tony shook his head. "I can sort of feel it on my skin, too. Like the air is oppressive."

"Pack up some food and I'll get the lanterns, med kit, and other supplies," Gibbs said. "We'll lock the house up tight and head for the shelter."

They had checked out the shelter, and it seemed fine for a few days inhabitance. There was no electricity, and Tony was pretty sure he would get sick of basically living in a cave fairly quick, but it would be safer, since they couldn't be sure how bad the storm would be.

It took them a couple hours to prepare and by the time they were half way up the mountain towards the shelter, it began to rain. By the time they reached the entrance, they were both soaked.

Thankfully, Gibbs had thought to lay in a supply of fire wood after their first trip up, and they soon had a fire lit in the fire pit by the entrance to warm them. If they had to lock themselves inside, there would be no fire, but they had plenty of blankets, and there was access to an underground spring for fresh water.

Tony had packed mostly MREs, but he had brought along some fresh fruit and nuts that would stay good for a few days. They also had some pork and fish that Gibbs had dried in a smoker he had made from a couple of the empty wooden crates. It wasn't Tony's idea of luxury, but they would survive.

The first day, it was mostly a driving rain, with the winds picking up as the day moved on. It wasn't until the next morning that they saw just how high the surf was. Their SOS sign had to be long gone, and the storm surge was licking at the edge of the bluff where the house was, twenty feet above the beach.

For two days, they waited and watched from the relative safety of the bunker as the storm tried to tear apart the island. They spent most of their time inside the shelter, but went out to check things out whenever the wind died down enough that they weren't going to be blown off the side of the mountain. 

When the storm finally passed for good, they saw the damage that had been done to the island. Many trees were blown down, the beach was a mess of debris, the dock had extensive damage and the plane was gone, washed out to deeper waters by the storm surge.

The house was in relatively good shape. There were a couple leaks in the roof that had gotten worse, but Gibbs was sure that he could fix those. Their garden had survived, and Tony reported that he could already hear some pigs and chickens as they made their way back down the mountain. The biggest loss was one of the wind turbines had come down and that could take weeks to fix. They probably could have survived the storm in the house, but Tony was glad that they had played it safe. But next time, he was bringing more than one book with him.

&&&

They never talked about being rescued, but when they hadn't seen signs of any search planes after several months, something inside of Tony stopped hoping for a miraculous rescue and he spent more of his energy thinking of ways for them to be comfortable and happy where they were. As a result, he finally figured out what to do with the pigskin he'd so carefully dried and tanned. He began cutting and braiding the leather into useful forms. For instance, he made a large bag to carry the fruits and vegetables he gathered. He also made a new pouch for Gibbs to carry his fishing supplies. He saved that, however, because he knew that Christmas was coming. They had both been carefully tracking the days in their journals and Tony knew that the holiday would be upon them in no time at all. So he worked in secret, and he was pretty sure that Gibbs was doing some secret projects of his own.

There were no evergreen trees on the island, and no decorations even if they had a tree to decorate, but Tony got into the spirit of the holidays by using some of their supply of flour and sugar to make lemon flavored shortbread cookies, used some of their precious supply of baking powder to make pumpkin and banana breads, and he made jam from some of the berries that grew nearby. On Christmas Eve, he went all out, cooking up a feast for that night and preparing for another feast the next day. It was an extravagance that he couldn't really justify, but he needed to celebrate. He needed to feel like they were doing more than just surviving. 

On Christmas morning, Tony was grateful that Gibbs was sensitive to his need and seemed determined to give him a happy holiday. Their day was nothing like the cheesy movies that Tony used to watch with envy, but it was real and happy nonetheless. And when Gibbs presented him with a carved wooden statue of the two of them made from driftwood, with absolutely no practical purpose, he was filled with joy. And that's when he knew that he was head over heels in love. 

&&&

They had been on the island for just under a year when Gibbs noticed that Tony was gaining weight. At first he didn't say anything, sure that Tony wouldn't appreciate him pointing out a flaw in his physique. He still recalled with a grimace their first attempts at cutting each other's hair and how Tony wouldn't speak to him for two days after he made a joke about the one gray hair he had found. But Gibbs decided that he needed to keep an eye on the situation. Quietly. They were all alone with no access to medical care, and unexplained weight gain—especially when they were forced to eat healthy and got more than enough exercise to burn off what calories they took in each day—could be a sign of a problem. Hell, even Gibbs, who had maintained the same weight for decades, had lost a little bit of weight since coming to the island despite their ready access to food. 

Over the next couple weeks, Gibbs noted that Tony was eating more, but not enough to explain the rapid weight gain. And the few times he recalled Tony gaining a little bit of weight, it had shown more on his face than it did this time. This time it was all centered around his belly. He also noticed that Tony would avoid certain foods and rarely drank any of their precious stash of coffee anymore. The first time Gibbs noticed Tony decline his morning cup of coffee, Gibbs had just brushed it off. The second time, he noted it. By the time Gibbs was ready to confront Tony a month after first noting the weight gain, he was truly concerned.

"You don't want coffee?" Gibbs asked one morning.

"Nope," Tony answered distractedly as he prepared their breakfast. That morning it was omelets loaded with veggies and slices of zucchini flat bread.

When Tony set down their plates and took his seat across from Gibbs, the older man watched him eat for a moment before digging into his own food. He let Tony finish his breakfast, but stopped him from getting up from the table when he was finished.

"What's up with you lately?" 

Tony didn't meet his eyes. "Nothing."

"Tony."

The younger man sighed and seemed to deflate. "So there's something else about some omni shifters I never told you, because I didn't know it applied to me. I never dreamed it would apply to me."

"Okay, you weren't hiding it. I get that," Gibbs assured.

"It's a really rare gift," Tony said. "Some omni packs don't even believe it still happens, it's so rare. But apparently, I have this really rare gift."

Tony had told Gibbs about some of the gifts that some shifters had, things like empathy or persuasion or healing. Tony had told him at the time that he didn't have any of those special gifts. But now Tony thought he had a gift. And that gift was somehow related to his odd behavior and weight gain.

"See the thing is," Tony continued, "I think I might be pregnant."

Gibbs, who had just been taking a gulp of coffee, nearly choked. "What?!"

The words came out in a rush now, as Tony explained, "Some omnis have the ability to...adjust...their gender just enough to carry a baby. It's not something they control consciously. It just happens when they are really..."

"When they are really what?" Gibbs prompted.

"Happy," Tony finished quietly.

Gibbs froze for a moment as he took in the implications of that one word. Tony was happy. They were stranded on an island out in the middle of the Pacific ocean with no apparent way to get home and no access to any of the things that Tony had always seemed to value, like fashion or movies. They had it pretty easy, considering how bad things could have been, but they still had to work hard every day for their continued survival. Every storm that blew through had the potential to destroy them, wiping out their meager garden, or killing off the wild animals they hunted for food. Either of them could be hurt and they would have no way to get to help. But Tony was happy.

With him.

And that's when it hit him. He was happy with Tony too. In a way he hadn't been with anyone since Shannon and that scared the shit out of him. The thought of Tony carrying their child... Well, that scared the shit out of him too. But it also filled him with a joy he could barely recognize.

"When?"

"I think it happened at Christmas," Tony said. "That's when..."

Tony didn't have to finish that thought for Gibbs to understand. That was when Tony had accepted their situation and had seemed to content himself with their lot. After Christmas, Gibbs had noticed that Tony was less frantic and asked fewer questions about his work on the boat. That was when Tony had stopped talking about when they got home and started talking about how to improve their garden for the coming year. It was also when he started lingering longer and longer in Gibbs' arms after they had sex. And Gibbs had gladly accepted his clinginess because he wanted Tony in his arms as much as the younger man would allow.

Shit.

"So, if you're right about the timing, then you are about five months pregnant?" Gibbs asked and Tony nodded. "Well, there's no way I can get the boat finished in time to get us off the island before the baby comes. Your body adapt enough to give birth?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "From the stories my mom used to tell, I will be able to feed the baby too. Not sure how I feel about that, but... well, not like we have much choice. It’s not like we can head for the closest grocery store for formula."

Gibbs noted that Tony had carefully avoided asking him how he felt about all this, and while he was grateful, he knew he needed to tell his partner. "I'm a little conflicted about all this. Part of me is scared shitless, Tone. There are so many things that could go wrong."

"But?"

"But, there's another part of me that’s really happy," Gibbs admitted. "A baby...our baby...seems pretty great." There was a light of hope in Tony's eyes that Gibbs hadn't realized he was missing, but it made him want to make sure that the younger man kept that light all the time. "You know I'm shit at talking about feelings, but I love you, Tony. I may wish that we were home, but I will never regret being here because it made me face how much you mean to me and didn't let me run away."

"Jethro," Tony said in a choked whisper. "I love you, too."

Gibbs pulled his partner into his arms and kissed him long and hard. When they broke for air, Gibbs tugged Tony down the hall to the bedroom. The chores could wait for one day. 

&&&

Any doubts Tony might have had about being pregnant were dispelled the first time the baby really moved. There had been flutters before, but those could be chalked up to indigestion. This time, it was like the baby was determined to make his presence known. It didn't really hurt, but it felt awfully weird, like something was poking him from the inside. 

Tony was making dinner when it happened, and Gibbs was on the sofa carving the little pegs he used to hold the boat together. Every connection took multiple pegs, so he spent a lot of time carving the things. Tony called for him and when he entered the kitchen, he took Gibbs' hand and placed it on his belly where he had felt the jab just moments before. And the baby did it again.

"Was that...?"

"I'm pretty sure that was the baby," Tony told him with a grin. 

Gibbs dropped to his knees and touched Tony's belly reverently with both hands. "Our baby."

&&&

As Tony got heavier with their child, he spent less and less time in shifted form. He said it wouldn't hurt the baby, but it was tiring to his already tired body. He still helped Gibbs hunt, but the spontaneous swims as a dolphin or flights over the island got less frequent until, in August, they stopped altogether. The only time he spent shifted, aside from hunting, were the rare evenings when he would curl up with Gibbs in his tabby cat form so that Gibbs could pet him while he read.

About a week before Tony figured he should be due, he got an urge to shift into his jaguar form and found he couldn't shift back. 

"This something you forgot to tell me about?" Gibbs asked him once they had established that Tony truly was stuck as a jaguar. The big cat just looked at him balefully. "Guess not."

The only thing Gibbs could do for Tony was make sure that he ate and got plenty of rest. He spent his time close to the house, doing many of the chores Tony usually tended, with Tony following him whenever he wasn't napping. It was amazing to see the large cat with a big pregnant belly. Gibbs had to assume that the baby was actually in cat form, hence why Tony couldn't change back. 

When the time came, Tony slunk to a dark corner where he had pulled one of the spare blankets and curled up in the makeshift nest while he waited. Gibbs wished that there was something, anything, he could do to help, but all he could do was sit with his mate and sooth him as he panted through the pain. He gathered a few things, like clean hot water and rags to wash the baby and a sterilized knife in case he needed to cut the umbilical cord. Beyond that, he just sat for hours by his mate's side.

Eventually, Tony got to his feet and crouched a little like he was going to the bathroom, but the snarling and panting made it clear what was actually happening. Then a head appeared and Gibbs wasn't surprised that it was furry. The tiny black jaguar that emerged wasn't as dark as Tony; in fact, most of the rosette spots were faintly visible. Gibbs was reluctant to touch the baby until Tony nudged him, then he set about doing what needed to be done. When he finished cleaning up the cub, Gibbs returned the cub to where Tony was lying. The large cat licked and snuggled the tiny creature and Gibbs smiled.  
"I'm so proud of you, Tony," Gibbs whispered. "A beautiful little boy."

&&&

Tony was able to shift back to human form within a couple hours of giving birth, but the cub didn't have the same ability, so all feedings had to happen while Tony was shifted until the cub figured out how to change. 

"It's not unheard of for a shifter to be born shifted," Tony told Gibbs when he was settled into their bed with the cub resting on his chest. "It happens maybe once in twenty births. And the mother does have to shift to give birth in those cases. I never thought it would happen though."

"Just like you thought you could never get pregnant," Gibbs snorted. 

"Anyway," Tony huffed at his mate. "He'll shift when he's ready. Probably not more than a couple weeks. But babies who are born shifted tend to spend more time shifted than human for the first year of their life and he won't have conscious control of shifting for a couple years."

"That should make things interesting if we get off this island," Gibbs huffed.

"Gibbs, we're going to show up with a baby," Tony said. "No matter what form he's in, it will be interesting."

Gibbs had to concede that. Two men alone on an island showing up with a baby would be cause for questions. Gibbs took heart, however, that Tony was again talking about when they got off the island. "You seem pretty sure we'll make it off, now."

Tony shrugged and cuddled the cub closer. "Been thinking a lot while I was forced to stay in jaguar form. Can't let him grow up isolated. What if he gets sick or hurt? He needs to grow up where he can be safe. I may have had to force myself to set aside my hopes of a rescue, but I always knew you would eventually find a way to get us home. And in the meantime, I think we should make the most of our time here."

Gibbs nodded, satisfied that he wouldn't have to convince Tony to go when the time came. And the time was growing closer. He was making progress with his boat. In a few months, they should have a craft sturdy enough to hold them through the worst that the ocean could send their way and big enough to carry them and enough supplies to last them for a couple months.

"He needs a name," Gibbs finally said, stroking a finger over the cub's head.

"Jackson," Tony said.

Gibbs smiled sadly at that. His dad had passed away not long before they had been stranded. "Dad would have loved that. How about a middle name?"

"You pick," Tony said.

Gibbs considered for a moment before saying, "Anthony."

"Jackson Anthony Gibbs?" Tony mused. "His initials will be JAG. Maybe he's destined to be a lawyer."

"No lawyers," Gibbs griped. "And Gibbs? Not DiNozzo?"

"Tradition holds that the kids have the father's last name," Tony shrugged. "Besides, as much as my dad has tried to make things better over the last few years, I'm not really all that attached to the family name. I'd rather he was a Gibbs. That's a name that brings to mind strength of character and integrity, for generations, and a legacy our son can be proud of."

Gibbs reached out and gently turned Tony's face so that he could kiss him tenderly.

&&&

Tony had been right about little Jack shifting randomly. He shifted into human form for the first time when he was twelve days old, but only stayed human for a few minutes before reverting to the more comfortable cub form. As the days and weeks passed, however, he became more familiar with his human form and spent more and more time as a baby until he was actually human about half the time. When Tony started refusing to shift to feed him, he learned quickly to stay human long enough to at least get his meals.

Gibbs was fascinated with the differences between a shifter cub and a real jaguar. For instance, at six weeks, a jaguar cub should have been getting around on his own pretty well, even if he wasn't totally coordinated yet. But Jack's development, even in cub form, was slowed to closer to that of a human baby. Tony said that it was because his brain was human even if his body looked like something else, and so his development was restricted to what his human brain could handle. Even so, he seemed to develop faster than Gibbs recalled Kelly doing. He could support his upper body and head from the floor at two months. He could sit up by himself at four months, and crawl at six months. Gibbs figured it wouldn't be long before he was walking at that rate.

His verbal skills weren't any better than he remembered Kelly's being, but they weren't any slower, either. He could recognize his name right on time, and figured out "no" about the same time he started crawling and getting into things he shouldn't. In all, it was pretty awesome to watch their son grow. 

The one area that Tony was insistent that they work on training the boy was to use the potty. Keeping a diaper on Jack was very difficult when he could shift from human to cub and back again in a ten minute period. And he just didn't like the diapers. They had fashioned his diapers from the dust cloths that had covered all the furniture when they first got to the island. Tony tried to make sure that they were as clean and soft as possible, but they just weren't very good at absorbing much and Jack hated being wet.

When the boat was finally finished just after their third Christmas, the potty training issue became a bigger deal. There was no way for them to pack and clean enough diapers for the sixteen-month-old baby. So they started teaching him to sit on the modified potty Gibbs had made for the boat. It was basically half of one of the empty wooden barrels fixed with a toilet seat Gibbs had salvaged from the station, with a bucket they could easily empty inside. Since Jack learned by example, both men began to use that instead of the toilet most days, much to Tony's disgust. But it was an important point that needed to be resolved before they could attempt to sail anywhere.

In the meantime, Tony and Gibbs worked on sewing sails from the uniforms they had long ago put into storage. They also began drying meat, fruits and vegetables to take with them. There were still plenty of MREs, as well. They cleaned, sterilized and filled four fifty-gallon plastic drums, which had been emptied long before they arrived, with fresh water. Gibbs repaired the fishing net and packed up a few of the rifles and their handguns along with plenty of ammo, just in case they needed them. They packed medicine and a large first aid kit, lanterns with extra batteries, and anything else they could possibly need for up to two months at sea.

In the end, they waited until July, just shy of Jack's second birthday, more than three years after landing on the island.

&&&

The boat was like a cross between the boats that Tony had seen Gibbs build in his basement and an outrigger canoe. It was rough-hewn, without any way to sand off the rough edges, but it was watertight. Gibbs had tested it out, sailing around the island several times before loading it with their supplies and making another trip around the island. The boat reminded Tony of a wooden shoe, with one end open and one end covered by a roof for shade and protection from the elements. There were no creature comforts, but Tony was able to pad the sheltered area with pillows and blankets. Their toilet bucket was moved to the aft of the boat. Their food was stored under the the floor boards, salvaged from the floors at the station, in the keel of the boat. The water barrels were secured to the bow and aft. There were oars, in case they were needed and the sail was ready to go. Gibbs had even fashioned a pretty decent rudder to steer them. In all, it was much larger and better equipped than Tony had expected, but was still pretty cramped when you loaded it with three people and all their supplies. 

"Dama," Jack whined as Tony and Gibbs paddled desperately to get the boat past the breakers just beyond the cove as the tide was going out long before dawn. "Don' wanna leaf."

Tony almost sobbed at that declaration from their son. There was a part of him that agreed wholeheartedly. But they couldn't protect Jack on the island, and a life of isolation wasn't much of a future for him. Besides, their basic stores would run out eventually and then there wouldn't have been soap or flour or lightbulbs or toilet paper. No, staying forever was never an option.

When they got out to open waters, Gibbs set the sail and took the rudder while Tony pulled Jack into his lap. "I know you're going to miss some stuff, but Jack-boy, there is so much out there in the world to see and learn, and you are going to do it all. This is going to be a grand adventure, just wait and see. You and me and your papa are going to be just fine."

"I haf stowy?" Jack asked with a dissatisfied pout.

"Sure, I'll tell you a story," Tony agreed. "How about one about Auntie Abby?"

Jack nodded and yawned. The toddler hadn't gotten more than a couple hours of sleep before he had been carried out to the boat and had woken up. So as Gibbs steered them towards the dawn, Tony told their sleepy little boy a story.

&&&

They had been on the ocean for a week, taking turns manning the rudder through the nights, and sometimes sitting together to watch the stars while Jack slept. It was during one such time that Tony finally brought up the subject of what would happen when they got back to civilization. "People are going to wonder about Jack."

"They will," Gibbs agreed. "We can say his mother died in childbirth."

Tony nodded. "The question is how she got on the island to start with."

"Stowaway?" Gibbs proposed. "We can say that she claimed to be an orphan. No living family to claim him."

Tony shook his head. "If anyone runs his DNA, and checks it against ours, that theory will be shot to hell. Besides, was she pregnant when she boarded the plane? That would mean Jack was born six months earlier than he was."

"So, he's small for his age," Gibbs shrugged. "We can say an old flame showed up just before we took off from Hawaii and dumped him in your lap. We convinced the crew to overlook him."

"So he was on board when we crashed," Tony sighed. "Well, we'll need some documentation on him, but I have a few connections in the shifter world still, even if my old pack tossed me."

"What about the team?" Gibbs asked.

That was a good question. Should they tell the team the truth? Abby would accept it all enthusiastically, as would Jimmy. Ducky would ask a million questions about shifters. Tim would... Tim would likely freak out a little, but eventually accept everything and support them. And Bishop... well, she was the newest on the team, and had only been with them for less than a year when their plane had gone down. Still, Tony felt pretty sure that if she had stuck around while they were gone, that she would support them.

"I think we should," Tony sighed. "There are rules about telling outsiders, but there have been changes over the last decade or so. There was this weird pack in Pittsburgh that broke all the rules and allowed not only shifters of different species, but humans to join their pack. Since then, things have been a little less restrictive. I think we could get away with telling the team, claim them as family, or even pack."

Tony looked over to where Jack was sleeping, curled up in his cub form on a nest of pillows and blankets under the small shelter. He deserved a pack, just like he deserved a safe and happy childhood. 

"What about Vance," Tony finally asked. "And work? He wouldn't have left the MCRT alone after three years. They have to have assumed we died."

Gibbs shrugged. "We'll figure it out. Was thinking of not going back, anyway."

That brought Tony up short. "Really?"

Gibbs nodded. "Mandatory retirement age is coming up in a year, and unless I want to take an administrative position, I'll have to actually retire this time. Not much point going back for just one year."

Tony sighed. "Even if they count the last three years, I've got four years before I get my twenty in. I'm not sure I'll want to go back without you, though."

Gibbs pulled Tony into his side and kissed his temple. "Let's just see how things play out. There's no rush to figure this stuff out."

"You should get some sleep," Tony told his lover. "I'll wake you in a few hours."

Gibbs kissed him again and then headed for the nest of blankets. He curled up around Jack, and their cub seemed to sense his presence because he snuggled up to his papa. Tony smiled at the sight and felt his heart fill with love. His whole world was right here. Everything else would either work out or it wouldn't.

&&&

Twenty-six days into their trip, a storm hit. Gibbs took control of the rudder, and Tony helped lash everything down, including the three humans. He tied the makeshift cork vest that they had fashioned from a jacket and some old cork boards they found in the weather station around Jack and held him tight. As the wind blew and the waves grew taller than their mast, the rain pelted them and Tony used a bucket to bail out the water.

"If we go down, you shift and get Jack to safety," Gibbs yelled to him over the waves. "Head east and don't stop 'til you hit land."

"Not leaving you behind, Jethro," Tony argued. 

"Tony!"

"Not going to make that promise, Jethro," Tony told him stubbornly. "I'll promise to keep Jack safe, but I won't promise to leave you behind. Not going to happen, Marine!"

Gibbs didn't have time to argue further, because just then, a huge wave crashed over them and the world was a swirl of saltwater and darkness.


	2. The Return

Leon Vance looked out over the bullpen and sighed. It hadn't been the same since that awful day that he'd had to announce that the plane carrying two of their agents had been lost somewhere over the Pacific. Yes, his people still got the job done, but there was a heaviness in the atmosphere that had never been there before. His MCRT was talented and efficient, and they didn't give him nearly the headaches that Gibbs and DiNozzo had always given him, but they weren't the same well-oiled machine they once had been. McGee was the SFA now, with Bishop taking on more and more responsibilities, turning into the agent Gibbs had once seen in her. They had a new probationary agent and a new agent in charge. Both had been with the team for nearly two years now, but neither of them seemed to fit into the family dynamics that had made the MCRT great. 

Agent Jane Reagan, as the agent in charge, had huge shoes to fill, and did an admirable job, as Vance had known she would. He had worked with her for a number of years when she headed up the team in Seattle and he had been the Assistant Director in charge of the west coast. She was tough but fair, though she failed to demand the loyalty that Gibbs had inspired. Agent Fred Bengali was coming along, but Vance was pretty sure that he would request a transfer before much longer. He had learned as much as he was going to from this team and he had ambitions to go places. 

The team worked, but they were no longer the best team in the alphabet soup. Not like they had been the entire time that Gibbs had been at the helm. Or even when DiNozzo had led the team while Gibbs was on his extended leave in Mexico. No, the team wasn't the same. 

The rest of the agency wasn't the same either, though. Vance had never realized how much DiNozzo's personality had lightened the workplace for most of the people who came to the Navy Yard every day. It wasn't just his team who was affected. The security staff, the other teams, they all seemed to miss his antics and his less obvious support, support that Vance hadn't realized was given until the memorial that was held when the search was finally called off three months after their disappearance. So many agents and support staff spoke up about the little things Tony had done for them, never seeking recognition or anything in return. There were just as many stories about Gibbs being a bastard with a heart of gold. And so the agency was still reeling from their loss.

None felt that loss more than Abby Sciuto. After three years, she still spent her evenings and weekends searching, calling in favors and using contacts to get satellite time so she could search islands one by one. And she wasn't alone in her personal commitment to a seemingly lost cause. She, McGee and Bishop had alerts set up to let them know if any news broke about anyone that matched either man's description. Ducky had friends on the west coast, Hawaii, and even in Australia and Japan keeping an ear out for anyone that might in any way be tied to their lost friends. 

Ducky was semi-retired these days, handing over the everyday management of autopsy to Dr. Palmer. The loss of their friends had aged him. He seemed to be older every time Vance saw the man these days. Palmer was a lot more serious too. He didn't smile as much. None of them did. Not for the first time, Vance wished he had insisted on sending anyone else to Hawaii.

Just as he was about to return to his office, Vance saw Abby Sciuto run into the bullpen and paused to hear what had her so excited.

"They found them!"

"Found who?" McGee asked even as he caught the tearfully ebullient goth in a hug. 

"Tony and Gibbs!" Abby told him loud enough for the entire floor to hear. And hear they must have, because all activity screeched to a halt. "One of our alerts... A report came in from the RCMP. There was a boat that washed up on shore on Victoria Island in Canada this morning. It was made by hand and practically torn apart by the storms that swept across the Pacific three days ago, but there were three people aboard and two of them match the description of Tony and Gibbs."

"And the third person?" Bishop asked.

Abby frowned at that. "A little boy. I'm not sure how they got a little boy with them, but the rest matches."

"I'll make some calls," McGee told her. "We can't just assume without more than a fitting description." He didn't have to remind her or anyone in the room of the numerous times she had gotten her hopes up only to have them dashed.

"Allow me," Vance said. While they had been talking, he'd made his way to the floor of the bullpen. "I think my contacts in Vancouver might be able to confirm if this is indeed our missing agents."

He made the call with the entire agency hanging on his every word. Palmer had arrived a little late to the party, but he too was listening and even holding his phone up, presumably so that Ducky could hear what was going on. 

"Are you certain, Greg?" Vance asked his friend. "There's no doubt as to the identities? Alright, thanks. I owe you one." Vance hung up and looked out over the crowd of agents and staff surrounding him. "It's them. Gibbs was injured during the storm that nearly tore their boat apart, but the doctors say he'll be fine. DiNozzo is a bit dehydrated, but otherwise coherent and well. He and the boy refuse to leave Gibbs' side. The RCMP were just about to call me, at DiNozzo's request."

And with that, the entire room erupted in such joy as hadn't been seen in over three years.

&&&

"Oh my god! Tony!" Abby cried even as she ran down the hospital hallway, mindless of the patients she might be disturbing. She threw herself into Tony's waiting arms, never seeing the little boy who clung to Tony's legs. "It's really you!"

"I tried to hold her back," Tim apologized as he and the rest of the team caught up. He pulled Abby away so that others could have a turn. He got his hug first, though.

"Dear Anthony," Ducky breathed as he hugged the man. "You cannot know how happy we all are to see you."

Jimmy and Ellie each got a turn before Ellie mentioned the little boy still clutching at Tony. "And who is this?"

Tony leaned down to sweep the little boy into his arms. "Everyone, this is Jack. Jack, you remember the stories about Abby, Tim, Ducky, Jimmy and Ellie? Well these people are them."

The little boy frowned for a minute before reaching out to Abby who was closest and pulling lightly at her pigtail. "Annie Abby?"

Abby's face lit up. "That's right! I'm your Auntie Abby." Of course, even as she said it, she was looking for an explanation from Tony.

"I'll explain everything later," Tony told them. "But the short answer, and the official answer, is that Jack is my son."

"Dama, see papa now?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, cub," Tony said. "We're going to go see papa right now. He's probably scaring the poor nurses."

Jack giggled at that. "Silly nurses. Papa no scawy."

There were more curious looks as the others listened in on their conversation, but they were patient. Tony had promised an explanation and they could wait to hear it. They were just thrilled to have him back.

They found Gibbs in his hospital room, pulling on his shirt. "I'm not staying here another night just for a mild concussion," he growled at Tony before he caught sight of the people following through the door.

"Never thought you would," Tony replied with a smirk. "Just got the doctor to sign your release forms."

"Gibbs!" Abby squealed and then was plastered to Gibbs. This time she wouldn't let go, no matter how hard Tim tried to pry her away. The rest of the team had to settle for one-armed hugs. Ducky and Jimmy looked over Gibbs' chart and noted that other than a bump to the head and some dehydration, he looked to be in better health than before the crash.

"Can we get out of here, now?" Gibbs complained once everyone was finished greeting him.

"I got us a suite at a hotel," Tony said. "It's too late to fly home tonight. Jack needs to rest."

"Not seepy," Jack pouted, and then tried to hide a yawn.

"Of course not," Tony smiled. "Where are all of you staying?"

"We hadn't got that far," Tim admitted. 

"We were more concerned with getting to you," Abby told him.

Tony smiled at them and then borrowed Tim's phone. He called the same hotel he had made reservations at and got several more rooms. Then they all headed out together. It took two vehicles to get them all to the nearby hotel, and it was a chore to get Abby to let go long enough for the trip, so it wasn't really a surprise that, soon after checking into the hotel, everyone ended up in Gibbs and Tony's suite.

"Jethro's putting Jack to bed, but he'll be out in a few minutes," Tony told them as he let them all enter the small sitting room. "Get comfortable. And if you're hungry, we can order something in. Jack and I ate dinner, but I'm sure that Jethro will be hungry."

There followed a discussion over whether they should order sandwiches or pizza. In the end, they ordered both. The food arrived just as Gibbs was finally leaving Jack's room to join them. While they ate, Tony asked questions about everyone. Tim and Delilah had gotten married. Ellie had divorced Jake after finding out he had cheated on her. Abby was in a serious relationship with a guy that she thought even Gibbs would approve of. Ducky had gone into semi-retirement, but was still fairly active with a group of friends from the retirement village where he had moved. Jimmy and Breena had a little girl.

"Victoria and Jack can have playdates!" Jimmy declared happily.

They were sad to report that word had come that Ziva had been killed in an explosion the year before. Tony was sad to hear that, but even sadder when he found out that his father had passed away just months prior.

"It was his heart," Ducky told him.

"He was never the same after we lost you," Ellie said sadly. "He moved to DC and tried to help us with our extracurricular searches. He never really gave up hope."

"None of us did," Abby added. "He left you a letter in his will. I didn't bring it."

Tony swiped at the tears that had fallen against his wishes. "That's okay, Abbs. I'll look at it when we get home."

"He lived in your apartment," Tim explained. "So things might be a little different to how you left them."

Tony shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Won't be living there, anyway. Jack needs a real house. He's not used to so many people, he wouldn't be comfortable at my old place."

Gibbs, who had been characteristically mute through the whole conversation spoke up then. "Maybe we should look for a place away from town. My place has a lot of neighbors."

"Yeah," Tony sighed. "Not sure how I'll feel being surrounded by people again either."

The others all exchanged glances, but it was Jimmy who finally reminded Tony, "You said you would explain about Jack."

Tony nodded and took a deep breath before launching into the same explanation that he had given Gibbs three years before. The team took the information in and shot back questions, but eventually sat back in stunned silence.

"So, you are saying that Jack is actually both of your son?" Abby asked.

"That's what I'm saying," Tony agreed.

"And you gave birth to him?" Tim asked with a frown of confusion.

"I did," Tony said.

"And this isn't some prank?" Ellie asked. "Just for clarification. Not because I don't believe you."

"No prank," Gibbs grunted.

"Oh my," Ducky huffed. "I do wish you would have said something long ago, dear boy. You are not the first shifter I have come across in my days. In fact, I am fairly close friends with a leonine shifter who is also a rather gifted healer. Perhaps she could have done something about your lungs years ago!"

"You know about shifters?" Gibbs asked with surprise.

"Of course, my boy," Ducky chuckled. "Who else would a pack contact to cover up the anatomical differences between a shifter and a human when they pass? Many of my colleagues are aware and choose to keep the information quiet."

"Ducky showed me the difference between a human and shifter my first year," Jimmy said. "There was a dead petty officer. I noted several minor anomalies, one that most people might overlook. Ducky asked me to delete them from my report, as it had nothing to do with how or why she was on our table. I was hesitant at first, but then he explained how there were some people who were just born slightly different. And he was right, her death had nothing to do with what she was."

"We don't often see shifters come across our table," Ducky explained. "They tend to stick close to their home packs, and there are few in the military as a result. But there are some."

"Not many on the other side of the investigations, either," Tony said. "But I've come across a few there, too. Saw a lot more when I was a cop."

"So this is all real?" Abby asked with excitement. "What kind of animal can you be?"

"I'm what's known as an omni shifter," Tony said. "My kind can shift into several forms."

"Two or three is average, I do believe?" Ducky inserted.

"Yeah," Tony agreed.

"So, what animals can you become?" Abby prompted again.

Tony sighed and then began to list them. "There's my first form, which is a black jaguar. That's also Jack's first form, since it's passed down from mother to child. He doesn't have any other forms yet, but he will."

"What else?" Ellie asked, getting caught up in Abby's enthusiasm.

Tony ticked them off on his fingers. "Jaguar, tabby cat, rabbit, hawk, dolphin and tortoise. I think Jack might just take on the dolphin form. He always loves it when we swim together."

"Six forms?" Jimmy asked. "That's pretty impressive."

"Very," Ducky agreed.

"I was pretty impressed when some dolphin pulled me out of the wreckage of the plane," Gibbs smirked.

"Oh, tell us!" Abby demanded.

And so Tony told them about the plane wreck and using his abilities to not only get them out of the plane, but find them shelter and food. Gibbs prompted him to tell them about hunting as a jaguar. That got them more questions about how they had survived on the island, and how they had gotten off of it. Tony was quiet when he got to the part of the story where Gibbs wanted him to promise to leave him behind.

"Of course you refused," Abby said, affronted on his behalf. "How could you think to ask Tony to leave you behind?"

"I was more concerned with getting Jack to safety," Gibbs admitted quietly. "Knew Tony could make it. He could have swum away the day we crashed. He stayed for me. Didn't want him to sacrifice himself and Jack."

"I would never let anything happen to Jack," Tony told his lover. "You know that. But you are just as important to me. And it never even occurred to me to go anywhere without you. It was never an option."

"So what happened with the storm?" Tim asked, getting them back on track. 

Tony grinned ruefully. "Before I could yell at Jethro for being an idiot, a massive wave crashed down on us. Took out the mast, which is how Jethro got his concussion. It nearly took out the boat, too, but it held together. We lost a lot of our water, though. When the storm finally calmed, I knew I had to do something. So I took some of the line we'd used for the sail and tied it to the bow. I left Jethro to watch over Jack, and I shifted into a dolphin."

"He towed us the rest of the way," Gibbs told them, proud of his lover. "Didn't have enough water to last more than three days, but he got us to land in two."

"I was exhausted," Tony said. "It's hard work pulling a boat for that long. So I had just enough energy to shift after beaching the boat before falling into an exhausted sleep. That's how we were found. Gibbs and Jack were asleep in the boat and I was asleep on the sand."

"We're just lucky that Jack hasn't shifted in front of anyone yet," Gibbs snorted.

"He doesn't have that great of control yet," Tony explained. "And since he was born in his jaguar form, he's most comfortable that way. So when he's nervous or scared or really tired, he'll just shift."

"Aw," Abby cooed. "I bet he's adorable!"

"You can take a look, if you promise to be quiet," Tony said. "He always sleeps as a cub."

The invitation wasn't completely out of his mouth before everyone was up and tiptoeing into Jack's room. 

"You realize that they're gonna want to see you shifted, now," Gibbs smirked.

Tony shrugged. "I'm just glad they're all being so openminded."

Gibbs pulled Tony closer to him and wrapped his arms around his lover. "Think they'll freak if I kiss you in front of them?"

"I think Abby's squeal might wake up the cub," Tony chuckled. "But I'm pretty sure that they all cottoned onto the fact that we're together, even if we haven't been all gross with the PDA. We did tell them that Jack was ours. And while there are a lot of miraculous things about his birth, immaculate conception isn't one of them."

Gibbs laughed at that, and kissed Tony just as the others returned from their spying. "Aw!"

"Shhh!" Ellie hissed at Abby. "You almost woke Jack."

"But I... it's just an overload of adorableness," Abby sighed, much quieter. "The cub and then the bossman and Tony kissing... and I think I need another hug before I go to bed."

Tony stood up and opened his arms wide in invitation. Abby practically threw herself into his arms. "Come on, Probie, Pro-Bish. Group Hug. You too Ducky and Jimmy. And don't think you're getting out of this one, Jethro!"

With a roll of his eyes, Gibbs stood and wrapped his arms around Tony and Abby. Soon, Tim, Ducky, Ellie, and Jimmy had all joined them. The team, the family, was together again.

&&&

"Oh my god," Tony groaned as he walked through the door of Gibbs' house and dropped onto the sofa. "I am never flying again. First we crash, then Jack happens. Never again, Jethro. I mean it."

"He was just scared," Gibbs reminded his lover as he slumped onto the sofa beside Tony, still holding the boy asleep in his arms. "And he only screamed for the first half hour."

"And the last," Tony reminded him. "That flight attendant just had to be mean about the tray. She couldn't have let him keep coloring and stay distracted from the enclosed space with all the strangers and weird air pressure hurting his ears and constant noise."

"It's regs," Gibbs reminded him. 

Tony dropped his head onto Gibbs' shoulder and sighed. "I know. I just wish we could have magically appeared in Alexandria, rather than make Jack go through that."

"He'll grow up and get better with people and with traveling," Gibbs told him.

"Shut up," Tony huffed. "My baby is not going to grow up. Never. He's going to be my little cub forever."

"Uh huh," Gibbs agreed facetiously.

"How long do you think it will be before Abby shows up?" Tony asked.

"Well, since their flight wasn't scheduled to leave for a couple hours after ours, I'd say two hours," Gibbs told him.

"Think we could get in a nap?" Tony wondered.

"Think Jack's already having his," Gibbs said. "If you want one too, we should probably head upstairs."

"Abby said that they hired someone to come in and clean and air the place every month," Tony said as he wearily climbed to his feet and headed for the stairs. "And they had the same company come over yesterday to make the beds and buy some food."

"Wondered why the place wasn't filled with dust," Gibbs grunted as he followed Tony up the stairs.

Soon enough, Jack, in cub form, was snuggled between his two dads and Tony and Gibbs were drifting off. 

&&&

Their first visitor wasn't Abby. Surprisingly, when Tony was woken from his nap by his now hungry cub, Gibbs was already out of bed. Tony shifted to feed Jack. It wasn't often that he gave into the cub's desire to feed in jaguar form, but it had been a stressful few days for all of them and Tony was feeling particularly indulgent. The fact that Jack was still nursing wasn't all that unusual for shifters. Something about their instincts outweighed human expectations and some shifter children nursed until they were three or four. Jack wouldn't likely nurse that long. He actually only nursed about once a day, relying on solid food for the bulk of his meals, but Tony wasn't in a hurry to break him of the comforting ritual yet, so Jack usually nursed after his afternoon nap.

Tony was still lethargic, both from the nap and from the feeding, as he carried Jack down the stairs, still in jaguar form, only to find that Gibbs wasn't alone in their living room.

"Shit!"

Tony froze as he heard the curse come from a once familiar voice. He turned wide eyes on Gibbs. They hadn't discussed telling anyone outside the team, but now there were two people that they hadn't discussed standing and gaping at Tony.

Gibbs chuckled and gently smacked the back of Tony's feline head. "Shoulda checked before coming down if you didn't want anyone to see you. Give me Jack then go up and change."

Tony obediently let Gibbs extract their son from the gentle grasp of his jaw and then fled for the stairs. He was just reaching the top when he heard Fornell mutter, "I never knew that DiNozzo was a shifter."

"I figured he had to be," Vance replied smugly. "How else do you think two men on a deserted island could come back with a baby?"

"I didn't know male shifters could have kids!" Fornell protested.

"Does everyone know about shifters?" Gibbs growled, followed by a tiny growl from Jack, who loved imitating his papa.

Tony shook his head and continued to the bedroom.

When he arrived downstairs for the second time, he found the three men in the kitchen, drinking beer that Fornell had apparently brought. Tony accepted a bottle and sighed with satisfaction.

"Three years is way too long to go without a beer," Tony decided.

"Should you be having one now?" Gibbs questioned.

Tony shrugged. "He's been fed for the day. It'll be out of my system by tomorrow’s feeding time."

Gibbs looked skeptical, but let it go. One beer couldn't hurt Jack. But he would put his foot down if Tony made it a habit before Jack was completely weened.

"So, we're officially here to find out if there is any reason to believe that the crash was anything but an accident," Vance said. 

"Not unless someone can control the weather," Gibbs huffed.

"Pilot said that the storm was worse than expected and had shifted directions," Tony told them. "So unless someone falsified the weather reports, I doubt that there's anything there."

"Checked everyone and everything out when the plane went down," Fornell told them. "There was no evidence of anyone tampering with anything, but we needed to be sure to close the case."

"Now that the old business is out of the way," Vance said. "We can get on to the new business."

"Which is?" Gibbs asked. He sounded gruff, but he was letting Jack climb all over his shoulders which was just too cute.

"How we handle your return," Vance clarified. "And how we handle the addition of this little guy to your lives."

"What's to handle?" Gibbs wondered as he absently scratched the back of Jack's head. "We're here. End of story."

Tony snorted. "Sure Jethro. The press is going to love that. And you know that they'll get ahold of the story eventually. The more we try to hide, the worse they'll be."

"So we don't hide," Gibbs said.

"We could hold a press conference to announce your return, organized by NCIS," Vance mused. "We give them most of the details, and ask that they respect your privacy as you heal and reintegrate into your old lives."

"It'll take a little more than that," Tony said thoughtfully. "One interview and we should be present for the press conference. We don't discuss Jack, other than to say that he is my son, and no one knew he was with us when the plane went down. No pictures of Jack, since he doesn't have complete control of his shifts yet."

"That might work," Fornell mused. 

"I'll have Roberts make the arrangements first thing tomorrow," Vance said. "Have you given any thought to what you want to do where the job's concerned?"

Gibbs grunted. "Thought about retiring. Jack has a lot of adjustments to make. One of us should be with him."

"And I still have a few years to reach my twenty," Tony explained further. "Not sure I want to be front line anymore, though. Too much to lose now."

"Your people will be disappointed," Fornell warns. "They took your disappearance hard."

"We'll talk to them," Tony sighed. 

"Well, as much as the MCRT would benefit from one or both of you," Vance said, "it wouldn't be fair to Rogers to oust her either."

"You have an idea, Leon?" Gibbs prompted. 

"I might," Vance said cryptically. "Give me a little time to work on it. I'll get back to you."

"No hints?" Tony asked with his usual boyish charm. 

All three men snorted. "A couple days, DiNozzo. Get through the press conference and the interview and I should have an answer."

"Or you could finally jump ship and join the dark side," Fornell offered, knowing that it was a lost cause. 

"Right."

&&&

"How long?" Tim asked Tony a few hours later. They were on the back deck of Gibbs' house, looking for a few minutes of respite from Abby's unending enthusiasm and excitement.

Tony took a sip of his beer and shrugged. "For real? Not until the island. But casually? Since Kate died. We both needed the comfort, I guess. And that's all it was for years. When we needed something, we'd come to each other. We were friends, and we understood what the other was going through. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with him, and I guess he did too."

"You guess?" Tim croaked. "You haven't talked about it?"

Tony snorted with amusement. "Oh Probie. Have you met Leroy Jethro Gibbs? He doesn't talk. At least not much. He's gotten better, but... well, I know he loves me. I know where we stand. That's good enough for me."

"Ducky said he thinks Gibbs will retire rather than come back," Tim mused. He sounded disappointed, but accepting.

"He wants to be with Jack," Tony agreed. "He missed so much with Kelly that I think he would have left even if he hadn't gotten his twenty years long ago."

Tim seemed to think about that for a minute before nodding. "What about you? Will you come back? Take over MCRT?"

Tony eyed Tim. "You don't like Rogers?"

Tim shrugged. "I like her. She's a good team leader. But..."

"But she isn't part of our little family?" Tony guessed.

"No, she isn't," Tim admitted sheepishly.

Tony watched his probie for a full minute before sighing. "I don't think I'll be back on MCRT, but I will be back to NCIS. Told Vance I'd like a less dangerous position. I have to think about Jack. We make a lot of enemies on MCRT. I never want to put Jack in danger. He's the reason we're back here. Gibbs and I could have stayed on the island a lot longer. We had the supplies and were doing pretty well. But Jack deserves more than what we could give him there."

"Never thought I'd see you with a kid," Tim said with a smile.

"Me neither," Tony conceded.

"When Ziva died, the new director of Mossad showed up," Tim told him hesitantly. "She had a little girl with her. Claimed she was yours and Ziva's daughter."

Tony's eyes went wide. "That's impossible. Ziva and I never had sex. Gibbs would have killed both of us."

"Abby ran DNA," Tim told him. "She compared the little girl's DNA to yours and Ziva's, since she still had both on file. She wasn't even Ziva's, nevermind yours. I'm not sure what sort of game they were playing, but the director scowled when Vance told her and she left. Without Tali. We found out later that Ziva had adopted her."

"Where is she now?" Tony asked with a frown. 

"You remember Dr. Cranston? Kate's sister?" Tim asked. "She stopped in to visit, since she was in town for a conference. She fell in love with the little girl and ended up adopting her."

"I'm glad," Tony said. "I'd hate to think that any daughter of Ziva's was being groomed to become Mossad."

"Me too," Tim agreed. "If you and Ziva never... why'd you chase her to Israel?"

Tony finished off his beer and looked up at the stars for a moment before answering. "Ziva and I had a complicated friendship. It took a lot of years for us to actually trust each other, but once we did... She was one of my best friends. I hated watching what her father's death did to her. And when she went off the grid, I needed to know she was okay." Tony sighed. "I wish I could have talked her into coming back here, even if she didn't come back to NCIS. I can't help but think she might be alive now if she had."

"I'm sorry," Tim said softly. "We're all so glad to have you guys back, but you've come home to some shitty news. Ziva... Your dad..."

Tony shook his head. "I was somewhat prepared for dad. I mean, he wasn't a young man, and he always lived much harder than he should have. He didn't take care of himself the way he should have. We had worked a lot of our shit out before the crash, so I don't really have many regrets there. Don't get me wrong, it hurts that I didn't get to say goodbye, but..."

"Dama!"

Tony grinned at Tim. "I'm being summoned. Think Abby's worn him out or did he wear her out?"

"Maybe they both wore out Gibbs' nerves?" Tim guessed.

"Doubtful," Tony opined. "Gibbs would let either of them get away with murder."

"Dama!"

"Coming!" Tony hollered back, sharing a grin with Tim.

&&&

"I hate reporters," Gibbs growled once they were clear of the room where they had met with the ZNN reporter for their interview. 

"As much as lawyers?" Tony teased. Gibbs glared at him but Tony was inured after so many years. "Anyway, that's done. We just have to wait for the hype to die down and we can get on with our lives."

"Where's Jack?" Gibbs asked as he practically ran out of the television studio towards their car.

"Abby's got him," Tony informed his partner. "They were going to hang out at the house and give us time to go look at a couple of those properties we found online that are having open houses today." They reached the car and Tony hesitated for a moment before asking, "You sure you want to do this, Jethro? The house... that's where you lived with your girls."

Gibbs didn't start the car. Instead, he looked at his partner. "I've spent the last three years away from that house and I never lost the girls. They'll be with me no matter where we end up."

Tony studied his partner for a long time before nodding. "So I guess we're gonna look at houses."

"Guess so," Gibbs agreed and started the car.

It took some time to get from the studios to the first house, but both men were glad for the chance to settle their nerves after the interview. For all of Tony's ability to charm when necessary, after three years of isolation, he was definitely out of practice. Keeping the interview going, the reporter away from areas that they didn't want to discuss, and Jethro from growling at the idiot man took a lot out of him.

When they pulled up to the first house, Tony looked through the window and knew before ever stepping inside that this wasn't what they were looking for. The house itself was okay, but it was barely three yards on either side from the neighbors. The front lawn was smaller than their boat had been.

"Next?" Gibbs asked.

"Next," Tony agreed.

The second house was better. It at least had some land around it, but not much more than Gibbs' current house. And the interior needed a lot of work. It was mostly work that Gibbs could do, but neither man was interested in that much renovation with a two-year-old underfoot.

The third property on their list had the land and a nice house, but backed up to the commuter train line. One train passed while they were touring the house and Tony thought the house was going to shake apart. Aside from the noise, however, the safety of Jack was a real concern there, so they moved on.

The fourth and last property on their list for the day was a lot further out of town than Tony had wanted, but when they pulled up to the property, he felt a peace that he hadn't felt since returning to civilization. You could hear birds and bugs chirping rather than cars or trains or planes. The closest neighbor was not even visible.

"It's a farm, Jethro," Tony said with trepidation.

It was. Besides the garage, there was a stable, a barn, paddocks with horses grazing, a huge garden and orchard... And an old farmhouse that reminded Tony a lot of Jackson Gibbs' house in Stillwater, though it was definitely larger.

"Not a working farm," Gibbs disagreed. "Just enough acres for horses and maybe a few chickens."

Tony smiled at the idea of keeping chickens again. He really had learned to love the fresh eggs. "Well, we came all this way, so let's take a look."

The house was at least a hundred years old, but Gibbs declared that it was in good shape. Someone had done a good job of keeping it maintained over the decades. And the woodwork throughout the house was beautiful, something that Gibbs really appreciated. The first floor had an old fashioned parlor, a library, a formal dining room, and the original kitchen had been enlarged and a new family room and powder room had been added to the house sometime in the last decade.

Upstairs, there were more renovations. The master bedroom had been expanded into a suite with the addition and now had a large bathroom and a closet that even Tony could be happy with. There were three other bedrooms, which shared a bathroom. The attic was spacious, but unfinished. Gibbs thought that it wouldn't be too hard to finish it if they ever needed the space.

"The literature says the property has a spring-fed lake that's good for fishing," Tony told Gibbs as they headed out to see the barn. Gibbs' eyes lit up when they walked through the door. Whoever owned the property was obviously a carpenter, because he had a huge workshop set up in there. "It's a lost cause, isn't it? I'm going to have an hour commute both ways every day."

That made Gibbs pause and frown. "Don't like that part."

Tony sighed and waved him off. "Don't worry about it too much. We're only ten minutes from the commuter line. I can take the train in and cut fifteen minutes off each direction. If I need a car at work, I can take one from the pool. Besides, cub's gonna love this place. Can we afford it?"

Gibbs shrugged. "We both own our places outright. This place is listed at about fifty grand less than what we expect to get from them combined."

Tony looked at the house as they walked back. They had been there an hour already and had only seen one other couple. "Doesn't look like there's much interest in the place. And it's been on the market for a couple months already."

"Any questions I can answer for you gentlemen?" the realtor asked when they stepped onto the back porch.

"Yeah," Gibbs said. "Looks like this place has a bit of history. Know about it?"

"Of course," the woman smiled. "This farm used to be about ten times its current size. The woman who is selling the house was born here. Her grandfather built the house and hay barn, but the land has been in their family for almost two hundred years. Over the generations, the land was slowly broken up, some sold to developers, some kept by various family members until they passed away and their children were more interested in living in the city. Mrs. Collins' own children have moved all over the country. When her husband passed a couple months ago, she decided that it was time to face the fact that none of her children were ever likely to come home, and she's getting too old to keep up the horse boarding business they ran for the past fifteen years. She's moving to Arizona to live with her youngest daughter. She would like to see whoever buys the place keep the boarder horses. Many of the families who keep their horses here can’t afford the fancier stables around the area and she would hate to see them have to give up their animals."

"Not bad with horses," Gibbs told her. "Retiring, and I wouldn't mind having something to keep me and our son busy. Teach Jack responsibility."

"Just as long as you remember that me and horses are not a good mix," Tony huffed. In truth, horses could sense a shifter and most were spooked by them. "But the garden, the orchard... and the chicken coop out by the barn wouldn't take too much to get it back in shape."

"Are you familiar with raising chickens?" the realtor asked with surprise. Tony didn't blame her. He was still dressed in his designer suit from the interview. He screamed city slicker. And three years ago, he would have agreed wholeheartedly with that assessment.

"He had a brood of chickens where we last lived," Gibbs smirked.

The woman's eyes narrowed and then widened. "Oh! You're those men who were stranded for three years! I saw you on the news the other day."

Tony sighed. It was to be expected that people would remember them. "Yes, that was us. The island where we were stranded used to be inhabited and the previous inhabitants left chickens to go feral. We domesticated some of them and I learned a lot about chickens the hard way. Learned how to garden that way too. Funny thing is that I miss it now."

"I love to garden," she confided. "It's so relaxing and it's rewarding to see your hard word pay off."

"Looks like Mrs. Collins is a great gardener," Tony complimented.

"She is," the woman agreed. "I've known her through church for years and she always shares some of their produce. She also cans a lot."

Tony gave Gibbs a look and the other man nodded. "You think if we put in an offer for full asking price, you can convince Mrs. Collins to spend a couple weekends teaching me to can? And maybe telling Jethro a little more about the history of the farm?"

The woman's face lit up. "I think I can pretty much guarantee that she would love to pass on her knowledge."

"Then why don't we fill out the paperwork?" Tony said with a smile.

&&&

Tony and Gibbs were called into NCIS the next day. While the two men had been looking at houses, Vance had been working with the Sec Nav on expediting Gibbs' retirement and on whatever idea that he had mentioned that first night. Thankfully, Jackson was doing okay with staying in his human form when they entered the Navy Yard. As long as they got him home before nap time, they should be okay.

"What's this about, Leon?" Gibbs got right to the point before Tony even had time to sit down.

"I met with Sec Nav yesterday and she has agreed to expedite the settlement of your back wages and your retirement," Vance started. "But that's not really the big news. I also discussed with her creating a new position. Or, rather, reinstating an old position that Tom Morrow got rid of during his tenure. DC is the only major field office that does not have an Assistant Director to oversee the local operations. Tom got tired of the last Assistant Director getting into skirmishes with certain agents." He gave Gibbs the stink eye. "Jenny wanted to keep a close eye on things for her own reasons. By the time I came on board, the position had been written out of the budget and you know how difficult it is to get things put back once they are gone."

Tony nodded. "One of the reasons I always made sure we used every penny of our team budget every year."

"So this new AD opens up a local lead for Tony?" Gibbs pressed.

"No, I'm offering DiNozzo the position of AD," Vance said with a smirk. It wasn't often that he could surprise either of these men.

"You're joking, right?" Tony asked. "Because you can't stand the way I work."

Vance had the grace to look chagrinned. "Yeah, well, I may not always agree with your methods, but I do agree with your results. You have the ability to juggle the administrative side of the job and still know how to handle the personalities involved. And... I will admit that this office was lacking in morale while you were missing. And it wasn't just because of grief. You somehow set the tone for this office, these teams, not just MCRT, and when we lost you, things got pretty bleak around here. So, while I may not appreciate some of your more juvenile antics, I do recognize the value of your contributions."

"Thanks?" Tony said dubiously. "Since this position was eliminated before I came to NCIS, could you tell me a little bit about what it entails?"

Vance nodded and pulled out a few papers and handed them to Tony. Tony handed Jack to Gibbs and began to look through the pages. "This is the standard job description for an AD of a field office. The second page is the addendum that spells out the specific duties that are unique to headquarters. Basically, you'll be taking all of the scheduling and supervision for local teams, most of the interagency relations on joint-ops, as well as supervision of the forensic and autopsy departments. You will likely have some direct involvement with the various teams in some of the larger cases, something which I never had time for, but I will expect that you are kept abreast of all current cases and local personnel."

"Leaving you more time to deal with the politics, as well as supervising other field offices," Tony guessed.

"Not to mention a little more time to spend with my family," Vance agreed. "I can't promise 9 to 5 hours with this job, but it'll be closer than anything you would get as a team lead, no matter what team we're talking about. And it comes with a significant jump in pay grade."

Tony saw the page that outlined the salary and benefits package. "Whoa, that's definitely a jump."

"I thought you might like that," Vance smirked. "I'll let you read through everything before you give me an answer, but I need to get back to the Sec Nav before the end of the week. If you choose not to take the position, I will post it and then we'll have to do some juggling to see if I can get you a team lead here in DC. I don't have anything open right now."

"Understood," Tony said. He gave Vance a steady look. "Thank you for the confidence this shows in my abilities."

"I may be as stubborn as Gibbs when I get an idea in my head," Vance said ruefully. "But I can be taught eventually."

&&&

"What do you think?" Tony asked Gibbs that evening after they had got Jack to bed and chased Abby home. The goth had spent every spare moment since their return either with Jack or with the family. Not that the others were much better. Any one of them could stop by at any time. Ducky assured them that it wouldn't last forever. The team just needed to reassure themselves that the pair were still there and all was well.

"I think that you can do whatever you put your mind to," Gibbs said.

"It's exactly what I asked for," Tony said. "I'll have better hours to spend time with you and Jack. I won't be in the field except for rare occasions."

"And that's got you second-guessing yourself," Gibbs told him.

"I love being an agent," Tony said. "I'm good at it. I love solving the puzzles."

"You're also very good at training agents and making sure that the team operates efficiently," Gibbs pointed out. "And you'll be working more with the teams than Vance ever had time to do. You can share your out of the box thinking when teams get stuck on a case. And you'll be able to influence a lot more probies than you could on a single team. Teach them the right way to investigate."

"I'll be supervising Abby and Palmer," Tony huffed.

"Better buy stock in Caf-Pow," Gibbs smirked. "Sounds like you've made up your mind."

"Guess I have," Tony agreed.

&&&

"Dama?"

"What is it cub?" Tony asked. Tony was keeping their son occupied in the back yard of their new house while Gibbs directed the movers inside.

"We haf new house?" Jack asked.

"We do," Tony said with a grin. "And you are going to love living there. There's enough room for us to shift and run and play without scaring anyone. And Papa can teach you to fish and ride a horse. And we'll have a garden again. Lots of room and not so many people around all the time."

Jack had heard all of this before and he nodded. "But not leafin' Annie Abby an' Grampa Ducky an' Unca Jimmy an' Unca Tim an'--"

Tony interrupted his son before he could list every person he had met since their arrival in DC almost two months prior. "No, we are not leaving our family. They'll be over to visit all the time, and we can go visit them all the time."

"No go back island?" Jack asked.

"No," Tony sighed. "Do you miss it there?"

Jack shrugged and Tony hugged his son. He could just be too damned cute sometimes. "Like fambly. No like noisy peoples."

"Well our new house is a lot quieter," Tony assured the little boy. "I think you're going to love it there. So does your papa. He even picked out a perfect tree to build you a treehouse."

"Whatza tree-house, Dama?" Jack asked with a frown.

"Well, it's a little house built into a tree," Tony explained. "It will be a special place just for you and you can go there to be alone, or you can invite friends to play with you there."

"Donna haf friends," Jack said sadly.

"Well, that's something else that papa and I were going to talk to you about," Tony said. "How'd you like to make some friends?"

Jack shrugged again. "Will they like me?"

"I bet they will," Tony said. "I found a place that has little boys and girls like you, shifters like us. You'll be able to play with other kids and the teachers there will help you learn how to control your shifts better. They might even help you learn a new form."

One of the surprising things that had come out of the move was that Tony found out that there was a pack of Omni shifters in the next town over and they were quite welcoming to newcomers, and even accepted non-shifter spouses. When Tony contacted them, they had told him about the pack-run school. They told Tony that some of the toddlers came every day, but many only attended once or twice a week. School age kids could either go to school there, or just attend after school lessons. The school went all the way through high school, if parents wanted to send their kids that long.

"Papa will take you there a couple times a week while I'm at work so you can make friends," Tony continued. 

The past weeks had been hard for Jack. There had been a lot for the cub to adjust to, not the least of which was being weened. Tony hadn't started back to work yet because they felt like Jack needed the time to adjust, but he was scheduled to start on Monday, after the move. They had been preparing the cub for the change.

But, despite how many things were changing, Jack really was handling everything better than they could have predicted. 

“Okay,” Jack replied and then ran off to play on the jungle gym that Gibbs had built as soon as the paperwork had been finalized on the house. Jack loved it.

Tony sat down on the porch steps and watched as Jack explored his new world. He found the chicken coup and began naming all of the birds, racing back and forth between the coup and Tony so he could tell Tony their names. Then he got distracted by a butterfly that was flitting around the flower beds. He was going to get into so much trouble as he got older and bolder. Tony couldn’t wait.

“He’s going to be just fine,” Gibbs stated as he sat beside his lover.

Tony smiled. “I know.”

“And so are we,” Gibbs said as he reached for Tony’s hand.

“Know that too,” Tony grinned. He rested his head on Gibbs’ shoulder. “Wanna help me give Jack a sibling?”

Gibbs kissed the top of Tony’s head and smiled against his hair. “Hell yes.”


End file.
